The monument
of Władysław Łokietek

The monument of Władysław Łokietek

You will begin the walk at the monument of Władysław Łokietek. Although the history of Lipnica reaches back to the 12th century, when the first parish was enacted here, it was formally established by the king in the 14th century.

The legend has it that the king founded the city as a thanksgiving for the miraculous recovery, as he had got lost in a wood during a hunt.

(…) The king was exhausted with the chase, so he summoned his courtiers with his horn,
He tooted the horn as a bugler before a battle and the wind carried the call away.
However, the deafening silence prevailed, there were no courtiers, no trace of the dogs,
But a beacon of hope lightened, when the king found a trail trough the woods.
And in that spot where a lime tree greeted the king, it spoke to him in the following words:
“I want Lipnica to become a city”, and he marked the tree with his sword.
The king wrote down town privileges and rights, and granted his demesne,
And thus the new Lipnica was founded and since then also masoned.

ZThe importance of Lipnica in the Kingdom of Poland grew quickly, which was vastly due to its favourable location. It lay at one of the most important political and trade routes in the Kingdom, the so-called Hungarian Route.

Since the 14th century, Lipnica developed brightly, and being a typical town of crafts and trade, it was famous for its numerous markets and fairs. It thrived, especially in the middle ages, which brought the influx of new inhabitants. This naturally resulted in a change in the spatial design of the city.

There was also life going on outside the city walls, whose minor debris are still visible on the outskirts of the main market square. The city began to develop in two directions. Toward Wiśnicz, along the so-called Górzański Brook, emerged Przedmieście Górne (or the upper suburb). Looking to the left from Władysław Łokietek’s monument, beyond the Uszwica River, one can see Przedmieście Dolne (or the lower suburb). Over time, these two suburban areas developed into separate villages.